brownstein: verdun councillor sterling downey wanted to honour his war-veteran father. now he's a recruit at 51
"i’m determined to serve, to give back," says downey, a staunch advocate for veterans. "it’s about service before self, a test of humility."
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for the first time in 11 years, veteran verdun city councillor sterling downey won’t be on hand for the remembrance day parade and ceremony at the borough’s cenotaph on sunday. but he has an excellent excuse.
downey will be doing basic training this weekend — as he has the past four weekends — at the cfb longue-pointe military base in east-end montreal.
fulfilling a lifelong goal, downey has joined the canadian armed forces — at 51. he will now be known as pte. downey in military circles.
as staunch an advocate as there is in montreal for veterans and their sacrifices for their country, downey, a member of the royal canadian legion’s verdun branch, had long wanted to honour his father and other family who had served in canada’s war efforts.
it is a shorn downey who shows up this day at the verdun cenotaph. gone are six of the seven inches of his trademark white beard. in his earlier days, it was 13 inches long — and perhaps visible from the outer reaches of the stratosphere.
says downey: “that’s part of the choice you must make: put country before self.”
and before one’s beard.
downey began the enlistment process in january, went through basic physical and aptitude testing in february, then underwent medical tests.
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“and then on oct. 4, i was sworn in officially as a private recruit in the canadian armed forces, and that night i went for my first weekend of basic training.”
the particular unit he chose was the black watch royal highland regiment in which his father served and in which his nephew is currently serving.
needless to say, basic training can be physically and mentally gruelling for recruits — and downey is almost three times older than most of them — but, not surprisingly, a stiff-upper-lipped downey has no complaints or misgivings.
“when i made the decision to enlist, i started putting myself in shape and training at the beginning of the year. i knew what i was getting myself in for and wanted to be prepared,” the verdun native says. “age is relative to your mindset, to your health, to your physical capacity.
“my 51 today is not my father’s 51. my father came back from the second world war when he was 23. he had seen six years of war in the navy. he was much more of a man at 23 than i was at 40. and by the time my father was my age now, his body was beat up and used. he worked hard as a labourer in a warehouse. he smoked, he drank — those were different times. i don’t do either.”
“when i made the decision to enlist, i started putting myself in shape and training,” says sterling downey. “i knew what i was getting myself in for and wanted to be prepared.”
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
downey’s grandfather fought in the first and second world wars. his grandmother was in london during the first world war and experienced the bombing raids and having to seek shelter in the tube during the second world war.
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“my father’s brother was a prisoner of war, after having been on the athabaskan when she was torpedoed in the english channel. so i grew up knowing all these stories, but the problem was that i was a delinquent growing up. i was a troublemaker. i always challenged authority.
“that was my path then, but it later taught me to become more responsible, more accountable. when i was younger, i tried the navy cadets, the air cadets, but i didn’t have the patience or an appreciation for the discipline. but as a father and a city councillor for 11 years, discipline, self-constraint and listening to people are in my nature now.”
downey also notes that his commitment to join the military was part of coming to terms with his relationship with his dad.
“i made a choice because i didn’t have the easiest relationship with my father, because he grew up disciplined. at 15, he had already enlisted (underage) and was ready to go off to war. and when i was 15, i was at a park, hanging out and carousing with my friends. he didn’t understand what i was doing, because he fought so i could have those liberties. and i didn’t understand it at that time.”
sterling downey won’t be at the verdun cenotaph for sunday’s ceremony because of his basic training, but he’ll be at place du canada alongside mayor valérie plante on remembrance day.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
years later, downey began to comprehend.
“when i got elected as a councillor, i was given an opportunity to play a more active role in the community and with the legion. in order to connect with those things in a sincere way, i had to reflect on my family’s history and my father’s service. i didn’t want to go in there as an imposter. i wanted to do it sincerely. it forced me to really think about my father’s service, why he was the way he was. i reflected a lot on my father and i made a choice that i wanted to honour him to make up for the years that i was a problem. so i decided to do it now if i was ever going to do this, and i signed up.”
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if downey successfully completes his basic training in a few months, he will be part of his unit’s reserves, but he’s unclear as to what that might entail.
“i’m approaching this one step at a time. so everything i thought i knew, i don’t know now. i have a lot of life experience, but i’m learning a different side of it. i’m determined to serve, to give back. it’s about service before self, a test of humility.
“if i’m lucky enough to get through all my basic training without injury, what better way to serve than help fight a forest fire in ontario or sandbag floods in the west island? i have so much admiration for the young men and women who were deployed during the (1998) ice storm, covid, the forest fires and floods. the reserves is voluntary, so for them to do this on a volunteer basis is incredible. they have to take time away from their jobs and families to do this.”
downey’s service doesn’t preclude him from performing his work as a city councillor.
“it has no impact and i have all the support of my (projet montréal) party and all the people i need,” he says. “i didn’t go into this (enlistment) as a game, to pretend to do something. i’m going into this because of my family service. and if i can play a role in inspiring anyone in any way, i’ve accomplished something.”
if sterling downey successfully completes his basic training in a few months, he will be part of his unit’s reserves. “i have so much admiration for the young men and women who were deployed during the (1998) ice storm, covid, the forest fires and floods.”
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
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downey won’t be making a run for mayor after projet montréal leader valérie plante recently announced she won’t seek a third mandate next year.
“anyone who knows me knows that i’m not interested in that,” downey says. “to take a military term, i’m boots on the ground. i want to be on the front lines of politics.”
downey has huge admiration for plante. “she has always been a friend before all else. i’m proud to say i served under the first woman who led this city as a mayor in 375-plus years. i know her intentions are well placed. she has fire in her belly and could easily stay on, but now she wants to move on and to pay it forward.”
while he won’t be on hand sunday with fellow legion members at the verdun cenotaph, downey will be standing next to the mayor on monday for remembrance day services at place du canada. he will again be laying two wreaths, including one for our unhoused veterans.
“i hope i can continue to work and advocate for veterans the next 40 years,” downey says. “and i just hope that one day when my son grows up, he has stories to tell about his father like i did about mine.”
no doubt his son will.
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